Kimberley locals gather to tackle suicide crisis

A five-day summit to tackle Indigenous suicide has started at the remote outstation of Billard, near the remote West Australian Aboriginal community of Beagle Bay.

The initiative, called by the Billard community, follows the deaths of three young men in the community and a devastating account of life in the Kimberley region by WA coroner Alistair Hope late last year.

In handing down his findings into the deaths of 22 people he said the health crisis suffered by the Indigenous people in the state's north could be attributed to a lack of Federal and State Government leadership.

But at the remote outstation of Billard, community residents have taken matters into their own hands.

The summit will focus on the alarming rate of suicide in the Kimberley region.

Beagle Bay Community adviser and summit organiser Kari Kristiansen says the decision to do something was triggered by the stark findings of the coroner and the loss of two family members to suicide in the Dampier Peninsula.

The five day event has attracted about 200 people including health workers, state and Federal

Government representatives and Aboriginal people who have been affected by suicide.

Ms Kristiansen says the summit is about suicide prevention and helping the community cope with grief.

"The idea is to get the right people present and to get the will to change the future," she said.

"And so there has to be, first of all, people who are architects of change - whether they be Indigenous community operatives or people who make settings within government and have high amounts of discretionary influence and capacity to deal with program delivery.

"And then you need people on the ground to be responsive, to be part of the process and to be contributors to the critical pathways towards better outcomes."

The summit will be officially opened by the Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jennifer Macklin.

Ms Macklin says the extraordinary program will focus on the importance of learning, education, employment, health and tackling alcohol problems.

It is also about what the community can do to close the gap.

"This venture that they have embarked on for this week, this suicide summit, it is really about saying to all of the people who are coming 'come together, look at the evidence'," she said.

"Look at what is working. Look at what isn't working.

"What do we have to do to strengthen individuals and families."

The WA state coroner Alistair Hope and the Western Australia's Supreme Court chief justice Wayne Martin will also be attending.